John Smith (Author of Guiding light ) edit data Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994. He first entered parliament in 1970 and was the Secretary of State for Trade from 1978–1979 and then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Neil Kinnock from 1987-1992. Smith was born in Dalmally, the son of a headmaster, and grew up in Ardrishaig in Argyll and Bute. He attended Dunoon Grammar School (Dunoon, Cowal), lodging in the town with a landlady and going home during the holidays, before enrolling at the University of Glasgow, where he studied History from 1956 to 1959, and then Law, f Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994. He first entered parliament in 1970 and was the Secretary of State for Trade from 1978–1979 and then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Neil Kinnock from 1987-1992. Smith was born in Dalmally, the son of a headmaster, and grew up in Ardrishaig in Argyll and Bute. He attended Dunoon Grammar School (Dunoon, Cowal), lodging in the town with a landlady and going home during the holidays, before enrolling at the University of Glasgow, where he studied History from 1956 to 1959, and then Law, from 1959 to 1962. He joined the Labour Party in 1956. He became involved in debating with the Glasgow University Dialectic Society and the Glasgow University Union. In 1962, he won The Observer Mace debating competition, speaking with Gordon Hunter.

In 1995, after his death, the competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in his honour. After graduating, Smith practised as a solicitor for a year. He was then elected to the Faculty of Advocates, and later to the British Parliament as an MP. He became a Queens Counsel in 1983.

...more John Smith (Labour Party leader) - iSnare Free Encyclopedia John Smith (Labour Party leader) 18 July 1992 – 12 May 1994 Monarch 18 July 1992 – 12 May 1994 Deputy 13 July 1987 – 24 July 1992 Leader 26 October 1984 – 13 July 1987 Leader 2 October 1983 – 26 October 1984 Leader 24 November 1982 – 2 October 1983 Leader 4 May 1979 – 24 November 1982 Leader 11 November 1978 – 4 May 1979 Prime Minister Minister of State for the Privy Council Office In office 8 April 1976 – 11 November 1978 Prime Minister 4 December 1975 – 8 April 1976 Prime Minister 18 June 1970 – 12 May 1994 Preceded by 12

 May 1994(1994-05-12) (aged 55) London, England Church of Scotland John Smith QC PC (13 September 1938 – 12 May 1994) was a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death from a heart attack in May 1994.

Smith first entered Parliament in 1970 and, after junior ministerial roles as Minister of State for Energy (1975–1976) and Minister of State for the Privy Council Office (1976–1977), he entered the Cabinet at the end of James Callaghan 's tenure as Prime Minister, serving as Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade (1978–1979). During Labour's time in Opposition to Margaret Thatcher 's Conservative government, he rose through the Shadow Cabinet , serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade (1979–1982), Shadow Secretary of State for Energy (1982–1983), Shadow Secretary of State for Employment (1983–1984), Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1984–1987) and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1987–1992). After Labour leader Neil Kinnock resigned following the Party's surprise loss in the 1992 general election to new Conservative leader John Major , Smith was elected his successor in July 1992.

He continued Kinnock's moves to reform Labour, abolishing the trade union block vote at Labour party conferences and replacing it with " one member, one vote " at the 1993 party conference. However, his overall cautious approach to reform, which was dubbed " one more heave ", sought to avoid controversy and win the next election by capitalising on the unpopularity of the Conservative government. This frustrated many modernisers like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and after Smith's sudden death in May 1994, he was succeeded as Leader by Blair, who undertook the subsequent re-branding of Labour as New Labour , winning the 1997 general election in a landslide. Contents 7 External links Early life This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed .

(December 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) The son of a headmaster, Smith was born at Baddarroch, Dalmally , Argyll , the eldest of three children of Archibald Leitch Smith (1908-1981) and Sarah Cameron, née Scott (29 July 1910-January 1997). [1] At the time of Smith's birth his father was schoolmaster at Portnahaven, Islay, but two years later he became headmaster of the primary school at Ardrishaig, Argyll, which Smith attended. [2] From September 1952, Smith attended Dunoon Grammar School , lodging in the town with a landlady and going home during the holidays, before enrolling at the University of Glasgow , where he studied History from 1956 to 1959, and then Law , from 1959 to 1962. He joined the Labour Party in 1955. [3] John Smith's birthplace in Dalmally, Glenorchy.

He became involved in debating with the Glasgow University Dialectic Society and the Glasgow University Union . In 1962, he won The Observer Mace debating competition, speaking with Gordon Hunter. In 1995, after his death, the competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in his honour. In 1963 he became a solicitor and then in 1967, an advocate at the Scottish bar, supplementing his income by working as a libel lawyer for the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail. Member of Parliament Smith first stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at a by-election in 1961 in the East Fife constituency ; he contested that seat again in the 1964 general election . At the 1970 general election , he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Lanarkshire succeeding Margaret Herbison . Smith defied the Labour whips in 1971, joining Labour MPs led by Roy Jenkins who voted in favour of entry to the European Economic Community . These included Roy Hattersley , Shirley Williams , Bill Rodgers and David Owen all of whom he was later to sit with in the Callaghan cabinet.

In government In October 1974, Harold Wilson offered Smith the post of Solicitor General for Scotland . Smith turned it down, not wishing his political career to become sidelined as a law officer. He was instead made an Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Energy . In December 1975, he was made a Minister of State . When James Callaghan became Prime Minister, Smith became a Minister of State at the Privy Council Office , serving with Labour's Deputy leader, Michael Foot , the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons . In this position Smith piloted the highly controversial devolution proposals for Scotland and Wales through the House of Commons . Smith's adroit handling of these proposals impressed Callaghan, and in November 1978, when Edmund Dell retired, Callaghan appointed Smith Secretary of State for Trade . In this post, Smith was the youngest member of the cabinet, and served there until the 1979 general election . Shadow Cabinet In the early 1980s, Smith was Shadow Energy Secretary . He became a QC in 1983, the same year that the constituency became Monklands East .

Smith acted as Roy Hattersley 's campaign manager for the party leadership election in October 1983 and after serving a year as Shadow Employment Secretary , was Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry between late 1984 and 1987. First Heart Attack Smith suffered a heart attack on 9 October 1988 and was forced to spend three months away from Westminster to recover. On that occasion, he had complained of chest pains the night before, and had to be persuaded to cancel a flight to London so he could go to hospital for a check-up. He was examined at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by an ECG . The doctor who examined him said "Whatever it is, we don't think it is your heart". Then Smith suddenly collapsed and was briefly unconscious before coming around. He spent three days in intensive care before leaving hospital on 20 October 1988, and made a full recovery.

Smith made modifications to his lifestyle by going on a 1,000-calories per day diet, cutting down on rich foods and fine wines, giving up smoking and taking up Munro bagging and by the time of his death, he had succeeded in climbing 108 of the 277 Scottish Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet above sea level at the summit). His weight dropped from 15 stone 5 pounds (98 kg ) at the time of the first heart attack, to 12 stone 10 pounds (81 kg) when he returned to Parliament on 23 January 1989. Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Smith was appointed Shadow Chancellor by Neil Kinnock in July 1987 after the Labour Party's general election defeat. Despite a quiet, modest manner, and his politically moderate stance, he was a witty, often scathing speaker.

Smith was named as Parliamentarian of the Year twice: first in November 1986 for his performances during the Westland controversy , during which Leon Brittan resigned and second in November 1989 for taking Nigel Lawson to task over the state of the economy and over his difficult relationship with Sir Alan Walters, the Prime Minister's economic adviser. Smith made two notably witty attacks on Lawson that year. On 7 June 1989, he sang the theme tune for the soap Neighbours at the dispatch box, lampooning the differences between Lawson and Sir Alan Walters , who was critical of Lawson's policies but whom Thatcher refused to sack. Then on 24 October, he made another scathing attack on the differences. Two days later, Lawson resigned, followed shortly afterwards by Walters. Leader of HM Opposition Following Labour's fourth consecutive defeat at the general election of April 1992 , Neil Kinnock resigned as leader and Smith was elected Labour leader. Although Labour had now been out of power for 13 years, their performance in the 1992 election had been much better than in the previous three.

They had cut the Conservative majority from 102 seats to 21, and for most of the three years leading up to the election, opinion polls had indicated that Labour were more likely to win the election than the Conservatives. The resignation of long-serving but increasingly unpopular Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher , and the well-received election of John Major as her successor, had seen the comfortable Labour lead in the opinion polls wiped out and in the 17 months leading up to the election, its outcome had become much harder to predict. Much of the blame had been placed on Labour's "shadow budget" drawn up by Smith, which included raising the top rate of income tax from 40p in the pound to 50p, and the Conservative election campaign was centred on warning voters that they would face higher taxes under a Labour government.

[4] In September 1992, Smith made his maiden speech as party leader, in which he attacked the Government's ERM debacle eight days earlier - an event which was seen by many observers as playing a large part in determining the outcome of the next general election, long before it was even on the political horizon, as from that point onwards the Labour Party was ascendant in the opinion polls, winning several seats from the Conservatives in by-elections (eventually even attracting a Conservative MP to defect to Labour) and trouncing them in local council elections. In this speech, he referred to John Major as "the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government". At Labour's party conference, Smith branded Major and Norman Lamont the " Laurel and Hardy of British politics".

This echoed his attacks on Major's government made before the 1992 election (while he was still shadow chancellor), most memorably when he labelled "irresponsible" Conservative plans for cutting income tax to 20%, [5] and joked at a Labour Party rally in Sheffield that the Conservatives would have a box-office disaster with "Honey, I Shrunk the Economy" – in reference to the recent Disney motion picture Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – mocking the recession which was plaguing the British economy at the time. [6] In a June 1993 debate, Smith again savaged the Conservative Government, saying that under John Major 's premiership, "the man with the non- Midas touch is in charge. It is no wonder that we live in a country where the Grand National does not start and hotels fall into the sea" (in reference to the 1993 Grand National , which was cancelled after a false start , and to Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough , which had recently collapsed off a cliff). This was in spite of neither of these events being part of the political or economic scene.

During the same debate, Smith commented on a recent Government defeat in the Newbury by-election to the Liberal Democrats , a poor showing in the local elections and a subsequent Cabinet reshuffle by saying that "if we were to offer that tale of events to the BBC Light Entertainment Department as a script for a programme, I think that the producers of Yes Minister would have turned it down as hopelessly over the top. It might have even been too much for Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em ". In the same speech, Smith also attacked the Conservatives' broken election promises (in particular Lamont's recent Budget decision to impose VAT on domestic energy bills) – claiming he possessed the last copy of a 1992 policy document "to escape the Central Office shredder". He also performed very well in the July 1993 motion of confidence debate on the Conservative government.

Despite his dispatch box successes (Smith was always more effective in the House of Commons than on platforms or at Prime Minister's Questions , though he began to improve at the latter towards the end of his life), Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were, under Smith's leadership, restless and privately anxious that the party had adopted a " One more heave " approach and had become over-cautious in tackling the legacy of " tax and spend ". Despite this, during his time as leader of the Labour Party, Smith abolished the trade union block vote at Labour party conferences and replaced it with " One member, one vote " at the 1993 party conference. He also committed a future Labour government to establishing a Scottish Parliament , an aim fulfilled by his successors after his death (most notably his close friend Donald Dewar ). Smith was also a committed British Unionist. During Smith's tenure as leader the Labour party gained a significant lead in the polls over the Conservatives ; on 5 May 1994, one week before Smith's death, the Conservatives suffered a major defeat in the British council elections, their worst in over 30 years.

This happened in spite of the strong economic recovery and reduction of unemployment which had followed the declaration of the recession's end in April 1993. [7] Labour's opinion poll lead was shown to be as high as 23% in May 1994. Death On the evening of 11 May 1994, with around 500 people present, Smith made a speech at a fundraising dinner at Park Lane Hotel , London, saying "The opportunity to serve our country—that is all we ask". At 8:05 a.m. the following morning, whilst in his Barbican flat, Smith suffered a fatal heart attack. His wife phoned an ambulance and he was rushed to Saint Bartholomew's Hospital where he died at 9:15 a.m., having never regained consciousness. On 28 April, a fortnight before his death, Smith had visited the same accident and emergency department to campaign against its proposed closure. The doctor who had served as his tour guide, Professor Mike Besser , tried unsuccessfully to save Smith's life.

In response to his death, John Major paid tribute in the House of Commons to Smith, culminating in the now well-known line, that he and Smith "would share a drink: sometimes tea, sometimes not tea". [8] [9] It was reported that there was weeping in the chamber. [10] On the day of his death, the BBC 9 O'Clock News was extended to an hour as opposed to the usual half-hour. This replaced the medical drama which was due to follow at 9:30, coincidentally entitled Cardiac Arrest . During Question Time that evening, panellists paid tribute to Smith instead of debating. George Robertson and Menzies Campbell were among the participants. Gravestone of late leader of the Labour party, John Smith, on the island of Iona, Scotland. On 20 May 1994, after a public funeral service in Cluny Parish Church, Edinburgh which was attended by almost 1,000 people, Smith was buried in a private family service on the island of Iona , at the sacred burial ground of Reilig Odhráin, which contains the graves of several Scottish kings as well as monarchs of Ireland, Norway and France.

[11] His grave is marked with an epitaph quoting Alexander Pope : "An honest man's the noblest work of God". [12] His close friend Donald Dewar acted as one of Smith's pallbearers. On 14 July 1994, a memorial service for Smith took place at Westminster Abbey and was attended by over 2,000 people. The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey gave an address. Following Smith's death, the Labour Party renamed its Walworth Road headquarters John Smith House in his memory. Aftermath Tony Blair , Smith's successor as Labour leader, was highly popular and an effective campaigner and won a landslide victory in the 1997 general election . Smith's biographer, Mark Stuart, claimed that Smith could have won Labour a victory on a scale similar to that achieved by Blair because of the combination of the Black Wednesday debacle and Conservative divisions over Europe since 1992.

Stuart argues that the lack of a "Blair effect" would have meant that the Conservative Party would have held slightly over 200 seats (rather than the 165 it actually won) in the House of Commons, leaving the Conservatives in a position similar to that of Labour after the 1983 election . [13] Personal life Smith was married to Elizabeth Bennett from 5 July 1967 until his death. Elizabeth Smith was created Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill in 1995. They had three daughters, one of whom, Sarah Smith , has served as the Washington correspondent for Channel 4 news and now works for BBC Scotland . Their other daughters are Jane, a costume designer, and Catherine, a lawyer. [14] Further reading WAS LABOUR LEADER JOHN SMITH KILLED? - Site news read more - OPCGLOBAL 2012-04-12 WAS LABOUR LEADER JOHN SMITH KILLED? John Smith (13 September 1938 - 12 May 1994) served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994.

Smith was born in Dalmally, the son of a Headmaster, and grew up in Ardrishaig in Argyll and Bute. He attended Dunoon Grammar School(Dunoon, Cowal), lodging in the town with a landlady and going home only during the holidays, before enrolling at the University of Glasgow, where he studied History from the Autumn of 1956 to 1959, and then Law, from 1959 to 1962. He joined the Labour Party in 1956. John Smith’s birth place in Dalmally He became involved in debating with the Glasgow University Dialectic Society and the Glasgow University Union. In 1962, he won The Observer Mace debating competition, speaking with Gordon Hunter. In 1995, after his death, the competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in his honour.After graduating, Smith practised as a solicitor for a year. He was then elected to the Faculty of Advocates, and later to the British Parliament as an MP. He took silk, becoming a Queens Counsel in 1983.

Smith first stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at a by-election in 1961 in the East Fife constituency, and contested that seat again in the 1964 general election. At the 1970 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Lanarkshire succeeding Peggy Herbison. Smith defied the Labour whips in 1971, joining the Labour MPs who, led by Roy Jenkins, voted in favour of entry to the European Economic Community. These included Roy Hattersley, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers and David Owen all of whom he was later to sit with in the Callaghan cabinet. In October 1974, Harold Wilson offered Smith the post of Solicitor General for Scotland. Smith turned it down, not wishing his political career to become side-lined as a law officer. He was instead made an Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Energy. In December 1975 he was made a Minister of State. When James Callaghan became Prime Minister, Smith became a Minister of State at the Privy Council Office, serving with Labour's Deputy leader, Michael Foot, the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons.

In this position Smith piloted the highly controversial devolution proposals for Scotland and Wales through the House of Commons. Smith's adroit handling of these proposals impressed Callaghan, and in November 1978, when Edmund Dell retired, Callaghan appointed Smith Secretary of State for Trade. In this post, Smith was the youngest member of the cabinet, and served there until the 1979 general election. In the early 1980s Smith was Shadow Energy Secretary. He became a QC in 1983, the same year that the constituency became Monklands East. Smith acted as Roy Hattersley's campaign manager for the party leadership election in October 1983 and after serving a year as Shadow Employment Secretary, was Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry between late 1984 and 1987. Smith was appointed Shadow Chancellor by Neil Kinnock in July 1987 after Party's general election defeat. However, he suffered a heart attack whilst Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 October 1988 and was forced to spend three months away from Westminster to recover.

On that occasion, he had complained of chest pains the night before, and had to be persuaded to cancel a flight to London so he could go to hospital for a check-up. He was examined at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by an ECG. The doctor who examined him said "Whatever it is, we don't think it is your heart". Then Smith suddenly collapsed and was briefly unconscious before coming around. He spent three days in intensive care before leaving hospital on 20 October 1988, to make a full recovery. Smith made modifications to his lifestyle by going on a 1,000 calorie diet, cutting down on rich foods and fine wines, giving up smoking and taking up Munro bagging and by the time of his death he had succeeded in climbing 108 of the 277 Scottish Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet above sea level at the summit). His weight dropped from 15 stone 5 pounds (98 kg) at the time of the first heart attack, to 12 stone 10 pounds (81 kg) when he returned to Parliament on 23 January 1989.

Smith was named as Parliamentarian of the year twice; the first time in November 1986 for his performances during the Westland controversy, during which Leon Brittan resigned and the second was in November 1989 for taking Nigel Lawson to task over the state of the economy and over his difficult relationship with Sir Alan Walters, the Prime Minister's Economic Adviser. Smith made two notably witty attacks on Lawson that year. On 7 June 1989 he sang the theme tune for the soap Neighbours at the dispatch box, lampooning the differences between Lawson and Sir Alan Walters, who was critical of Lawson's policies, but Thatcher still refused to sack him. On 24 October he made another scathing attack on the differences. Two days later, Lawson resigned, followed shortly afterwards by Sir Alan. Following Labour's fourth successive defeat at the general election of April 1992, Neil Kinnock resigned as leader and Smith was elected Labour leader. Although Labour had now been out of power for 13 years, their performance at that general election had been much better than their performance at the previous three.

They had cut the Tory majority from 144 seats to a mere 21, and for most of the three years leading up to the election opinion polls had indicated that Labour were more likely to win the election than the Tories were. However, the resignation of long-serving but at that point hugely unpopular Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher and the well-received election of John Major as her successor had seen the comfortable Labour lead in the opinion polls wiped out and in the 17 months leading up to the election its outcome had become much less predictable. Much of the blame had been placed on Labour's "shadow budget" drawn up by Smith, which included raising the top rate of income tax from 40p in the pound to 50p, and the Tory election campaign was centred on warning voters that they would face higher taxes under a Labour government. In September 1992, he made his maiden speech as party leader, about the Government's ERM debacle eight days earlier, saying that John Major was "The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government". At the party conference he referred to Major and Norman Lamont as being the Laurel and Hardy of British politics.

This echoed his attacks on Major's government which he had made before the 1992 election while still shadow chancellor. Smith was always more effective in the House of Commons than on platforms or at Prime Minister's Questions, though he began to improve at the latter during the final months of his life. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were, under Smith's leadership, restless and anxious in private that the party had adopted a "one more heave" approach and had become overly cautious in tackling the legacy of "tax and spend". Despite this, during his time as leader of the Labour Party Smith abolished the trade union block vote at Labour party conferences, and replaced it with "one member one vote" at the 1993 party conference and committed a future Labour government to establishing a Scottish Parliament, a policy which was followed through by his successors (most notably his close friend Donald Dewar) after his death. Also, during his time as leader, the Labour party gained a significant lead in the polls over the Conservatives and on 5 May 1994 the Conservatives received a severe defeat in the council elections in Britain, their worst for over 30 years.

Labour's opinion poll lead was shown to be as high as 23% in early May 1994. On the evening of 11 May 1994, Smith made a speech at a fundraising dinner at Park Lane Hotel, London with around 500 people present, saying famously "The opportunity to serve our country - that is all we ask". The following morning, at 8:05am, whilst in his Barbican flat, Smith suffered a massive heart attack. His wife phoned an ambulance and he was rushed to Saint Bartholomew's Hospital where he died at 9:15am on 12 May 1994 having never regained consciousness. Only two weeks before his death, on 28 April, Smith had visited the same accident and emergency department to campaign against its proposed closure. The very doctor who served as his tour guide, Professor Mike Besser, two weeks later tried unsuccessfully to save Smith's life. In response to his death, John Major made a fitting tribute in the House of Commons to Smith, culminating in the now well-known line, that Smith "would share a drink: sometimes tea, sometimes not tea".

It was reported that there was weeping in the chamber. John Smith was regarded as a man of integrity - decent and honest and was widely expected to lead Labour to victory at the next general election and become prime minister. On 20 May 1994, after a funeral in Cluny Parish Church, Edinburgh attended by 900 people and after which 3,000 people lined the streets, Smith was buried in a private family funeral on the island of Iona, at the sacred burial ground of Reilig Odhráin, which contains the graves of several Scottish kings as well as monarchs of Ireland, Norway and France. On 14 July 1994, his memorial service was attended in Westminster Abbey by over 2,000 people. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave an address. Following Smith's death, the Labour Party renamed its party headquarters in Walworth Road, John Smith House in his memory. Smith was married to Elizabeth Bennett from 5 July 1967 until his death. Elizabeth Smith was created Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill in 1995. They had three daughters, one of whom, Sarah Smith, used to be Washington correspondent for Channel 4 news.

Smith was devoted to his family and was determined always to spend as many weekends as possible at his home in Morningside, Edinburgh. Baroness Elizabeth Smith Deputy party leader Margaret Beckett was appointed as interim party leader. Home Affairs spokesman Tony Blair was favourite to win the leadership and Gordon Brown, Robin Cook and John Prescott were expected to stand too. Tony Blair commented after John Smith’s death: “Of course, I had no knowledge that John would die prematurely. Except that, in a strange way, I began to think he might… I said to Cherie: ‘If John dies, I will be leader, not Gordon. And somehow, I think this will happen. I just think it will.’ Is that a premonition? Not in a strict sense; but it was strange all the same. On Saturday afternoon we went to see Schindler’s List…” Was John Smith murdered? Iraq, the Afghan war, 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq, based on research from the Britain's support and research by people by Dr Kelly, only became feasible, politically with the election of Tony Blair as Britain’s Prime Minister. And people say that Tony Blair only became Prime Minister because he was "lucky".

One is left stunned by the “lucky coincidences” that surround Tony Blair. Above all, Tony Blair owes his success in British politics to one key event, the EXTREMELY TIMELY sudden demise of John Smith, whose death cleared the path for Tony Blair to become first leader of the Labour Party and then Prime Minister shortly afterwards. Did a coup take place on 11th May 1994, so obviously in front of our eyes that we could not see it? If Dr Kelly, the weapons expert, was murdered to cover up the invasion of Iraq (as he invariably was), then is there not a reasonable possibility that John Smith might have been murdered? John Smith's previous function the night before was attending a dinner at a Hotel in London's exclusive Park Lane where guests were champagne socialists, paying £500 a head. In such an environment, slipping something in his drink that would have caused a heart attack would have been easy, and the doctor involved with the autopsy would never have found it. Why presume the murder was committed by the security services?

Consider the situation at the time:-John Major had continued backing the intervention in Iraq as he had no option, but afterwards, in Bosnia and Ruanda, he just ignored problems and ran away. Furthermore, the sex and fraud scandals that were racking Major's Tory Government made a Labour Government a certainty in the future and John Smith had no interest or connection with either Israel or with the Bush camp. Indeed, as Industry Minister in the Labour Government of Jim Callaghan up until 1979, he had been well less than helpful to the American multinationals. At the time in the US, the President was George Bush Senior who probably had ideas about the future regarding Iraq but could not completely "take out" Saddam with no British backing to do it. There was clearly a very, very powerful vested interest in removing John Smith and putting a tame socialist in power for both the US and Israel. People say that Smith had a heart attack before, but the question arises, was that also a natural one or an attempt on his life as he had that at a time shortly after Blair was appointed to be, in effect, his "number one" and had just shown himself to be potentially popular.

Who would believe, after all, that anyone in British politics would be prepared to murder their own political leader just to move up? Finally, would it not have been a very comfortable deal? Bush's cronies in the CIA bump up Blair if he agrees to sell the UK down the river to the Bush camp in the future... which is precisely what he did! St. Bart’s Hospital is a seven minute walk from the Barbican. The records show that John Smith had a ‘mysterious’ second heart attack whilst in the ambulance which arrived, not within minutes, but almost 40 minutes after the phone call. Despite attempts to find out who the staff were in the ambulance and what drugs, if any, were administered, the whole matter is covered by secrecy. As in the case of Robin Cook, the family of John Smith, his wife and three daughters have since simply vanished into oblivion. Other than naming Labour Party Headquarters the name John Smith the Prime Minister in waiting is forgotten.

Bronze bust of John Smith on display at the National Gallery of Scotland ONLINE PUBLISHING COMPANY will continue to seek answers to what is not only a mystery but still a live potential murder enquiry and certainly one the police should have investigated properly, unless of course, the order was not to proceed. Share John Smith (Labour Party leader) Quotes - iz Quotes If you know some quotes that would be a good fit here, send us a note! John Smith (Labour Party leader) Born: September 13, 1938 Died: May 12, 1994 (aged 55) Bio: John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994. He first entered parliament in 1970 and was the Secretary of State for Trade from 1978 1979 and then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Neil Kinnock from 1987-1992.

John Smith - Biography - IMDb John Smith Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (4) Overview (2) 12 May 1994 , Smithfield, London, England, UK (heart attack) Mini Bio (1) John Smith was born on September 13, 1938 in Dalmally, Scotland. He was married to Elizabeth Bennett. He died on May 12, 1994 in Smithfield, London, England. Spouse (1) ( 5 July 1967 - 12 May 1994) (his death) (3 children) Trivia (4) Leader of the Labour Party in the UK from 18th July 1992 until his death. The Labour party's famous original headquarters on Walworth Road , south London was named John Smith House in his honour, being printed on the gateway before the building entrance . Sometime after the creation of New Labour, this disappeared... Portrayed by Frank Kelly in British television drama, The Deal (2003) focusing upon his successors' alleged rivalry.

His daughter is the television newsreader Sarah Smith . See also University of Glasgow :: World Changing:: Leader of the Labour Party 1992-1994 Leader of the Labour Party 1992-1994 John Smith's matriculation record page 2, 1956 Source: University of Glasgow John Smith established the principle of "one member one vote" at party conferences and committed Labour to re-establishing a Scottish Parliament. After two unsuccessful contests for parliamentary seats, John Smith was elected Labour MP for North Lanarkshire in 1970. He gained junior ministerial experience before becoming a Minister of State at the Privy Council Office, where he took responsibility for piloting the devolution proposals for Scotland and Wales through the House of Commons. His assured handling of this led to his appointment as Secretary of State for Trade until Labour lost office in 1979. After Labour’s 1987 General Election defeat, he was appointed Shadow Chancellor by Labour Leader Neil Kinnock and after the defeat at the 1992 General Election, John Smith was elected in his place.

As leader, he abolished the trade union block vote at Labour party conferences, and committed a future Labour government to establishing a Scottish Parliament, duly delivered by his successors, most notably his close friend Donald Dewar, after his death. John Smith, 11 May 1994 "A chance to serve, that is all we ask." Under his leadership, Labour gained a significant lead in the polls over the Conservatives, with a big victory in the local government elections in May 1994 and a substantial lead in the opinion polls. However, on May 12, he suffered a massive heart attack from which he could not recover. Had he survived, there is little doubt he would have been the next Prime Minister. Born 13 September 1938. Died 12 May 1994. The lawyer and politician John Smith (1938-1994) was a University graduate who was leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994. He is represented on the Memorial Gates for his outstanding contribution to the political and cultural life of Scotland.

Born in Ardrishaig, Smith was educated at the University and graduated MA in 1960 and LLB in 1963. He was an active figure in the University Labour Club and served as its Chairman in the early 1960s. He was also an excellent debater, winning the Scotsman trophy with his friend Donald Dewar in 1961 and the Observer Mace debating competition in 1962 with A Gordon Hunter. In 1995 the latter competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in his honour. In 1970 Smith was elected Labour MP for North Lanarkshire. He became an important figure in the Labour Party, guiding the party's proposals for devolution through Parliament in the 1970s and serving briefly as Minister of Trade. After Labour's defeat in the General Election of 1979, Smith served as Shadow Chancellor and in 1992 was elected leader of the Labour Party. He established the principle of "one member one vote" at party conferences and committed Labour to re-establishing a Scottish Parliament. Smith is buried on Iona.

His wife Elizabeth was created Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill in 1995. University Link: Alumnus John Smith, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death Famous Politician's Death Anniversaries in May, United Kingdom John Smith John Smith (13 September 1938 - 12 May 1994) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994. He first entered parliament in 1970 and was the Secretary of State for Trade from 1978–1979 and then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Neil Kinnock from 1987-1992. Smith was born in Dalmally, th... Read more at Wikipedia Date of Birth: 13-Sep- 1938 Place of Birth: Ardrishaig, , United Kingdom Date of Death: 12-May-1994

Question: Who was leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death in May 1994?
Answer: John Smith